Men's Volleyball Pushes Winning Streak to 11 With Wins over Virginia Wesleyan and Calvin

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The #8 Juniata men's volleyball team extended their winning streak to 11 as they picked up wins over Virginia Wesleyan (3-0, 25-21, 25-15, 25-23) and Calvin (3-0, 25-17, 25-12, 25-18) Saturday afternoon on day two of the Juniata Invitational.  

The first set against the Marlins saw the teams dueling in the middle part as the teams were tied several times before the Eagles broke the final 17-17 tie. Kills from Campbell Gerdeman, Chase Robbins, and Tyler Phillips pushed the Eagles ahead by three, and they fended off the Marlins the rest of the way. A block from Grant Lorelli and Chris Mellor pushed the home team to set point, and Phillips eventually ended it, 25-21.  

In set two, with JC holding a two-point lead, the Eagles scored the final eight points as they ended up winning comfortably 25-15. Juniata hit .500 in the set. 

Set three saw the Marlins looking to extend the match as they tied things up at 23 late, but two errors ended the match in favor of the Eagles 25-23. 

Gerdeman had ten kills (.714) with an ace, eight digs, and two block assists, while Phillips tallied ten kills (.316) with two aces, six digs, and four block assists. Robbins contributed ten kills and three digs, while Mellor totaled five kills and six block assists. Will Sierer had 21 assists and three digs, while Lorelli had 12 assists, two kills, and five block assists. 

In the first set against the Knights, holding a three-point lead, an Eagles 6-1 run had them up by eight, 19-11, and Juniata cruised from there as Luke Hoffman smashed a kill into the back right corner to end set one 25-17. 

An early 6-0 run from Juniata that featured four aces from Tyler Goldsborough had the Eagles in the driver's seat, and they never looked back. Campbell went off the block to win set two, 25-12. 

Juniata retook the lead at 5-6 with seven straight points, and Gerdeman led the surge with three kills. Later, leading by five at 23-18, Jared Johnson went off the block, and Phillips got a free swing on match point on the right side. He smashed the ball into the floor right in front of the Knight defender to end the match. 

Goldsborough had nine kills, six aces, and two digs; Gerdeman had nine kills (.500), two aces, six digs, and a block assist; and Phillips had ten kills (.389) with an ace and three digs. 

Juniata will play Eastern Mennonite in a CVC showdown on Saturday at 12:00, and they will play Hobart at 4:00.